Lost and Found
by Erailea Evenstar
Summary: Keara is thrown from her own world, NOT ours, into the world of the avatar with her friend Drake, who is not quite human. She gets mixed up in the war within the world and the adventures of Aang’s crew. Along the way she develops feelings for Zuko
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Avatar: The Last Airbender.

Hello readers. I thought that I'd let you know that this is not my first fanfic on this site, but it is the first within this animation category.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter. Please review when you are done, even if you are not a member! It'll be greatly appreciated!

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**Chapter 1**

"Father this is ridiculous!" A girl of seventeen yelled in slight panic as two men held her back, one on each arm. "You can't seriously believe I'm a traitor! I love my people! I'd _never_ do anything to harm them!"

A stern man in his fifties looked down at his daughter from his throne, dark brown eyes meeting her light blue one. "Is that why you burned a city full of _your_ people to the ground!"

"I didn't do that!" The girl yelled back, her long brown hair shifting about as she struggled to free herself from the guard's harsh grip.

"No, I suppose Drake did. Is that it?" The man asked with a hidden malice.

"Of course not!" The girl screamed, "Drake and I went to see what aid we could give the people! We had seen the smoke and I knew something was amiss."

He shot to a standing position and glared at the girl, "How dare you lie to your king! First you destroy a vital city in this time of war, killing hundreds, and then you claim you had nothing to do with it!"

"Because I didn't!" the girl retorted.

"Than why isn't your pet speaking up for you?" The king asked with a satisfied smirk.

The girl growled, "He's not my pet, he's my friend! And last I checked you introduced him to me when I was six and deemed him my guardian."

The king glared, "Some guardian he turned out to be." His glance turned to a humanoid figure with honey colored eyes and deep red hair. At first glace anyone would have thought it human, but the wild look in it's eyes and the deep malice directed towards the king hidden even deeper in the eyes of an otherwise calm face revealed him to be very different.

"He is just fine! It's you have been lacking as a parental guardian!" She hollard. "You would call your own daughter a traitor without looking at the facts! Without even asking the survivors of the city what had happened!"

"Silence!" The king yelled in outrage. "How dare you question my judgment! I know a traitor when I see one and you fit the bill!"

Before the girl could make a remark back Drake spoke out, "If anyone here is a traitor it is you King Andalin. You are a traitor to your family and you know what they say, 'once a traitor always a traitor.' You will turn against your own people when things prove too difficult for you, as they have already. When the odds have gone against you, when you deem your own hide more important than that of your people, you will leave them in ruin and flee where it is safe. You will be nothing more than a traitorous coward."

The king was now fuming, "You are nothing more than a beast! You have no right to make such claims!"

"Don't I?" Drake asked calmly. "You are convicting us of something we never committed. A fact you refuse to hear because you think it'll be to your benefit to get rid of your daughter who is next in line for the throne." He smirked as the kings face scrunched up in rage, he had hit a nerve and he knew it, "You want a male to be the ruler, not a female, even if she has proven capable of ruling both this kingdom and the neighboring ones."

"I will not hear of these false accusations!"

"No but you will deal them!" The girl screamed.

Drake looked to her, "Be calm Keara, you must beat him with knowledge, not anger. Anger can be wrought at a later date."

"There will be no later date for you to take your anger out," The king smirked, "At least not on me."

Keara was momentarily stunned, "What do you mean?"

"It's quite simple," the king said in a tone that gave the false illusion of great knowledge before glancing back at Keara, "You and your pet are here by banished from this world."

"WHAT!" Both Keara and Drake cried.

The king laugh horribly, "My sages have discovered a way to open a rift in space and time, but it can only be created once every century, or at least that is the limit at this current time. It matters not however, as you will be sent through and there is, by no means, any way in which I would reconsider your exile."

Keara growled, "You're nothing but a monster! I'm ashamed to have your tainted blood flow in my veins!"

"And I am ashamed to have once called you 'daughter'."

Angry tears welled in Keara's eyes, "You once would have given me anything I so desired, but now you toss me to the side. You have become a monster, a monster than needs to be slain. You'll run our people into ruin!"

The king sat himself down on his throne and placed his chin in his upright hand, elbow leaning on the armrest. "If your words were meant to cause harm they have failed." He motioned to a free guard to pick up an iron that lay in a hot ash. "You're treachery shall never be allowed to leave your mind. You will remember and regret your actions for the rest of eternity."

The guard lifted Keara's left sleeve and harshly placed the scorching iron on her flesh, burning it with a horrid hissing noise. The assaulted girl clenched her jaw in an attempt not scream, but pained noises succeeded in escaping from her. Tears that had been held back moments before fell down her fair face and dripped down to either her shirt or the carpeted floor.

Drake gave a loud growl from the bottom of his throat like an angry animal would. He struggled violently to get free from the grasp of the three guards that held him and nearly succeeded before one of the guards holding him hit him in the back of the knees, causing his legs to buckle and collapse. The impact of the hard floor on his knees did not harm him, but it did make him even more agitated.

"If these cuffs were not on my wrists you all would be a wondrous snack," Drake growled.

"Precisely why they are on," the king laughed, "I am no fool in the matters of your beastly capabilities."

"You are a fool," Drake growled, "An old fool who just lost the two greatest assets to his army, not to mention his heir."

The king's eyes narrowed, "For that your reminder will be much more vivid." He looked to the guard with the iron, which had been just renewed its scorch, and gave a nod.

Drake looked over to Keara as the guard approached him. Her head was bowed, tears streaming down her face and pained whimpers escaping every so often from barely shaking lips. He knew the pain undoubtedly went beyond that of the physical form. She had just been betrayed by her very father, been stripped of her title of both commander and princess, and had been deemed a traitor in the eyes of her people. It was a wonder that her soul had not been destroyed yet, but he was grateful that it had not.

"Do to me as you wish," Drake said calmly as he looked fiercely at the king, "My pain will be nothing like that with which will be invoked upon you before your end."

The king retained a calm façade, but Drake could sense the uneasiness and fear in him, much like an animal could. Before he could make out anything else he felt a sharp pain shot through his body, originating from the area just diagonal from his left eye. A pained growl erupted from deep within his throat as he closed his left eye in an attempt to lessen the pain, never once screaming out.

The brand was a simple but very distinct mark that would tell anyone of the nation, or neighboring ones, that they were traitors to their home. It was the mark of sword with an 'x' over top of it to mark their inability to fight for their country.

"Now for the banishment," the king laughed. He stood and walked to bottom of the steps leading up to his throne where odd inscriptions were written within a circle. A small knife was drawn from his boot and placed in his opposite hand, which then encircled itself around the sharp blade.

Blood quickly began to trickle out from between his clenched fingers and dripped down onto the floor. At the touch of the blood the inscriptions began to glow a golden color, growing brighter with each droplet of blood it received.

"The only other down fall to this gateway is that the one who summons it must use his own blood," the king said, "If it wasn't so I would have used one of you to open it."

Suddenly the words became black and enveloped the entire circle like a dot a stray ink from a quill would on paper. A gust of horrid smelling wind no one could place blew upward from it and quickly filled the entire throne room before swirls of color began to intermix with the black of the hole.

The king gave out a victorious laugh, "It works! It really works!"

Keara looked to the man she had once called her father and king with disgust and hatred. "You can throw me into another world, but you will never be rid of me. There are still people who love me and will be a constant reminder to what treachery you have committed to both them and your own flesh and blood."

"I think not," the king said as he motioned the guards to bring their captives forward, "You give these pathetic people far too much credit. There will be none who think of you as anything other than a traitor and so they will only have me to look to for comfort and hope."

"_You _think to lowly of our people," Keara growled as she came to a stop in front of the vortex, "You have much to learn of the wisdom of our people, but knowing you that knowledge will come to late to save your life."

The king rose his unwounded hand to strike her before thinking better of it, "Say what you may traitor, they are your final words in this world."

"Words that will haunt you for the rest eternity old man," Drake said with a smirk. "May your death be a long and painful one."

The king growled, "Off with them," he ordered.

The guards holding Keara threw her into the vortex, a yelp escaping her as she disappeared into its depths. The king laughed at the spectacle, "And may you crush her on the landing Drake."

Drake's cuffs were taken off his wrists before he was promptly thrown into the vortex, a long red tail was the last thing they saw off him before he disappeared completely.

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A red tail? What kind of creature is Drake? Where will Keara land?

Find out in the next chapter.

Please Review.

Thanks!


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own ATLA (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Sorry guys, I don't usually update this late, but certain things have kept me from writing.

Thanks for reviewing:

**East Coastie1500**– Hey, sometimes hunches are right, you'll have to read this chapter to see if it does this time around. I hope you find this chapter interesting.

**Mizu42 **– Sorry! I know, late updates are very annoying, that's why I try to update within two weeks, but as of late I haven't been doing to well with that. Thanks for the complement! Seriously, it probably means a lot more to me than most others (I was in special ed. for up until three years ago). While I still make mistakes they aren't as common as they used to be.

**EyeoftheTigerKissoftheDragon**– I'm sorry! But hey, the update is finally here!

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**Chapter 2**

"Come to me Avatar and your friends will not be harmed," a teenage boy by the name of Prince Zuko commanded. His head was bare except for the small area at the back of his head where a high ponytail was placed. Golden brown eyes were staring strait at a twelve year old boy on the other side of his ship.

The boys name was Aang, but he was also known as the Avatar. Despite his age he had been alive for a hundred and twelve years, though a century was spent incased in a glacier in the South Pole. His face was calm and amazingly peaceful despite the threat, his soft eyes were staring right back at the fire prince. Blue arrows were on both his hands as well as his bald head and disappeared into his clothing.

"We're not giving Aang to you!" a girl by the name of Katara proclaimed. Her skin was of a well tanned color and her brown hair was tied back into a braid.

"Ya, you fire creep, what makes you think we'd just hand him over to you!" Sokka yelled. He was a teenage boy with hair in a flat mohawk type fashion that turned into a high ponytail and a complexion much the same as his sister Katara.

Zuko's fists clenched, "Then you'll find yourself in harms way." He raised his hand, ready to throw it outward and unleash a fire attack when a sudden 'pop' was heard. As he looked up he heard a girl's cry and something land on top of him, knocking him flat on his stomach.

"Ouch," Keara whined. She then realized she was on top of someone and hastened to her feet, helping the boy she had hit up as well. "Sorry," she said nervously.

A sudden roar reminded Keara of a certain beast that had been sent with her. With a scream of panic she grabbed Zuko around the shoulders with one arm and jumped out of the way just as the beast made a loud and rough landing. The front end of the ship came dangerously close to being submerged in the water at the force of the impact from the massive creature. Everyone standing was knocked off balance and several of the fire warriors fell overboard.

Keara sighed and sat up, facing Drake. "You just love making grand entrances don't you?"

Drake gave a grunt and wrung his massive head from side to side. His form had changed the moment the cuffs had been taken off his wrists and now he was back in his natural form; a red dragon.

Zuko looked at the beast with amazement, forgetting momentarily of the girl that had both landed on him and thrown him back to the ground.

"A dragon!" Aang cried half in glee.

"Ya, that's what this big bloke is," Keara said with a sigh and walked over to her friend.

Zuko finally came to his senses and was anything but happy as he climbed to his feet with great haste. "Who are you and where did you come from?" The prince asked rather angrily.

Keara turned to face the boy she had saved only a few moments ago with little shock. In truth she had been expecting the reaction since the moment she had unintentionally landed on the poor fellow. "Keara Avion," she said with a small smile and a curt nod of her head. "I'm from-" she paused a moment, "somewhere really far away."

Drake roared in anger and sent flames flying into the air. His anger was not at the words that had just been spoken, but rather the meaning behind them, a meaning no one but he and Keara knew and understood.

Several guards as well as Katara and Sokka took several steps back. Aang and Zuko on the other hand stood their ground, looking up at the beast with in wonder. The latter two only moved when the beast swung his tail and accidentally hit the tower of the iron ship, severally denting it.

"Drake!" Keara cried in horror, "Bad dragon!"

With agitation still within his system, if not greater because he had made unintentional damage to the ship he slammed a clawed hand down on the deck. Unfortunately his claws were far too sharp for the metal to withstand and made five sizable holes in the metal.

"Drake! Stop!" Keara cried on the verge of panic, "Just stop!"

"He certainly has great strength," a new voice belonging to an older man known as Iroh was heard. He was a man not of great height, but he was very strong despite his age. His eyes were soft and held the look of wisdom and cleverness.

"He's making holes in my ship!" Zuko cried in outrage.

"Now prince Zuko, he is obviously upset over something," Iroh said as he approached, "And something rather large since he is not listening to his master."

Keara looked to him and shook his head, "I'm not his master, I'm his friend." Drake brought his head around and gently brushed it against her in a friendly manner, something he did often. "That 'a boy. It's alright, it's not the end of the world. We still have each other after all."

Aang came up beside her with a sad look, "Did something happen to your home?"

"No," Keara answered as she looked down to him, "Well there is something going on there, but it's still in peek condition- so to speak."

The boy smiled, "Well I'm glad it's not destroyed."

Keara wasn't quite sure why he had said it, but she guessed that some sort of war must be currently underway. "Thanks," was her simple reply before she sighed and looked at the damage her friend had caused to the ship, "You and your messes Drake. Now I have to clean this up."

"No need for that," Sokka said with a smile, "It'll keep them off our tails for a while."

"Sokka," Katara said with the roll of her eyes.

"What?" Sokka asked, "It's true. Or do you like them on our tails all the time?"

Keara raised a brow, "I don't know what your problems are between one another, but I know that this can be a real nuisance, not to mention it makes me feel bad, so I'd rather fix it."

"Unless you're planning to pay for repairs that's not possible," Zuko said angrily.

"I don't have money, but I can have it repaired rather quickly."

"Really?" Zuko said with slight interest, but he was mostly agitated.

With a nod Keara turned to assess the damage. "I've fixed things on a lesser scale before, but this should be little different when it comes to the technique." She held out her right hand and did her best to align her fingers with the holes from her distance. Once satisfied she completely straitened her fingers, causing a red flickering substance to extend from them, no thicker than her very fingers.

"She's a firebender!" Sokka cried.

The flames curled around the jagged metal Drake had bent inward and tied themselves tightly about them. When the flames gave all signs of stillness Keara curled her fingers so that all five threads could come into her palm, her other hand grabbing the area just above her right hand. She began to tug hard on it, as if she was trying to drag something far too heavy for her.

Drake, feeling his friends struggle, carefully wrapped his powerful tail around her and pulled gingerly so as not to harm her in his attempt to help. Within seconds the screeching noise of metal on metal was heard as the bent plates came back into place, though the edges were still quite jagged.

With a sigh the flame ropes dispersed into the air as if it had never existed. Moving slightly Keara positioned herself at an angle from the jagged metal. She stooped down to get a better view for a split second before standing back up and bringing her right arm up, wrist past her neck. In a sharp, but decisive motion her arm was flung outward, sending flames in the direction of the metal she wished to fix.

The flames hit the metal deck about a foot from the target and slid right to its intended destination, dispersing once it was a foot past it. The metal seemed to slide for a split second before it stopped and hardened once again, revealing the smoothness that had been returned to it.

Everyone was shocked by the display of her power, everyone except for Iroh that is. The old general merely nodded in approval and stroked his beard for a moment before speaking, "Mighty impressive for one so young. Where did you say you were from?"

"Another world," Keara said absentmindedly. At Drakes huff of disapproval she made a face and laughed nervously, "Oops."

"Another world?" Aang, Zuko, Sokka and Katara said at once in sheer surprise.

Iroh was clearly surprised, but he did not burst out like the younger ones had. "So that was what that black mass was about. I was wondering if my old age was catching up to me."

Keara laughed, "Nope, not yet at least." She looked to Drake and smiled for a brief moment before a frown came to cross her. "You made a dent on your landing Drake."

Drake looked under him to see that he had indeed made a rather large dent on the deck from his rough landing. With a simple motion of her hands Drake knew to get into the air. With him out of the way she whipped her arm outward once again, sending a blanket of flame out across the large dent.

"Well that has to sit there a moment," she mused. She looked up to her friend and caught sight of the dent in the ships tower and sighed. "Drake you are a one creature demolition squad!" She used the same method as before to cover the dent with the scorching flame.

With the tower now heating her turned back to the deck, counted to five and then lifted her hand into the air. There was a sharp sound like that of metal vibrating as the dent leveled itself out to where it had been before they had arrived. As she closed her hand into a fist the blanket of fire dispersed into the air, leaving her to finish with the tower.

When everything was back to how it was supposed to be Keara sighed and shook her head. "Now Drake, land and don't make a scratch on this ship." Drake gave her look before lowering himself back to the ship and settling down.

"What great technique and patience," Iroh pointed out, "You have been taught very well. I wish my nephew would have even half your patience."

"Uncle!" Zuko screamed.

Keara gave a soft laugh, "Time teaches everything to a diligent learner." She turned to her friend, "Well Drake, I think we'd best be off before you cause anymore damage."

"Hey," Aang said as a great idea came to him, "Do you think you can lead us out of here?"

Keara raised a brow at the boy, but before she could speak Zuko had begun, "You're not getting away Avatar!"

With the shrug of her shoulders Keara picked Aang up and jumped upon Drake. "Let's get going. Head wherever you like for the time being."

"Hey!" cried Sokka, "Give Aang back you rotten firebender."

"Sokka, she's helping," Katara said quickly as she jumped on the back of a giant bison, "Now let's go." Once the boy was safely aboard, grumbling all the while, she said, "Yip, yip," and bison took off into the air steadily.

Zuko growled from the deck, "Follow them!"

They ships crew ran back to their positions as quickly as possible and tried their best to follow the retreating group. However it proved impossible as the dragon was hastily flying away and somehow the bison, known as Appa, was keeping up.

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Aw, poor Zuko's ship was damaged for about five minutes. Lol. So Keara's a firebender and Drake is a dragon. Hmm, interesting. Is Zuko ever going to be able to catch up to the group now that Drake is with them? Or is he to be left in the dust?

Please review!

Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own ATLA.

Thanks for reviewing:

**East Coastie1500 – **Hopefully that means I'm doing a good job. I'll tell you that hearing things like that is truly encouraging because I want to try and get one of my original stories published in the near future and a good novel causes the reader to react with what's going on.

**SalanTrong **– Lol. Ya, if you're a fan of fantasy you'd pick it up easily enough. I'm a huge fan of dragons, so I couldn't resist. Besides for that, Drake plays an important role in this story, in both dragon and human form.

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**Chapter 3**

Zuko paced up and down in his chambers, "Who does that girl think she is taking the Avatar away from me," he growled.

"I believe she said her name was Keara Avion prince Zuko," Iroh said before taking a sip of his tea.

"I know what her name is," he growled.

"I would not brewed over it," his uncle advised, "Come sit and have some tea, it will help with your nerves."

"There is nothing wrong with my nerves!"

Iroh took another sip of his tea calmly. "I would beg to differ prince Zuko. She seems to have shaken you up quite a bit."

The prince growled and roughly sat himself down opposite his uncle, but did not touch the substance his uncle loved. "I'll make her regret prolonging my mission."

"Now that seems highly unreasonable of you, she would defeat you easily."

"What! How can you say such a thing uncle!"

Iroh took another sip of his tea before speaking, "Simply. She proved to be your superior in a simple display of mending the ship. Her technique was very advanced."

"Then teach me the advanced moves," Zuko said a little louder than necessary, "I need them to catch the Avatar and now this girl."

"I cannot teach you beyond the basics until you learn some patience prince Zuko, as it is the bases of learning the advanced techniques properly."

Zuko slammed his hand on the table, rattling the china, "We don't have time uncle! I must catch the Avatar before Zoah!"

"And what does Keara have to do with that?"

"She's in my way," Zuko growled.

"Ah, yes," he sipped his tea, "But in what way?"

vvvvv

Aang held his arms to the side and relished the breeze that blew by him as Drake continued his journey, Appa right behind them. "This is great! I've only been on a dragon once before."

Keara laughed softly, "This is his calm and steady pace, you'd be amazed at how fast he can go when he's in battle."

The Avatar put his arms down and looked over his shoulders at her, "You battle?"

"Ya," Keara responded with a sigh, "Or I used to anyway. Before I came here I was the main General of my nation's army and led them to many great victories."

Aang nodded and turned his head back forward, "Did you enjoy it?"

Keara thought a moment before responding. "It all depended on the battle. If the enemy attacked my people first, in our domain mind you, I was all for striking back and striking hard. But I never was one to approve of attacking another nation in their home unless there was a really good reason for it."

The boy seemed pleased with the answer as he sighed and relaxed his shoulders. For several moments silence fell between them, but when it was broken it was done so in a slightly depressed manner. "There's a war going on now between the three remaining nations of the world and I'm supposed to stop it all. The problem is, I have less than a year to learn water, fire and earth bending or else I won't be able to do the duty I am supposed to."

"Well- say I never did catch your name," Keara found herself saying instead of what she had initially meant.

"Aang," The boy answered, "Though some people call me the Avatar, as you know from Zuko."

Keara nodded, "Well Aang, I don't think you should work yourself up over the matter just yet. If you do you won't get anything done and thus make matters worse, but since you know what is needed of you within a specific amount of time you can work on it at a reasonable pace. This would keep you from panicking and allow you to get everything done."

The boy looked to her and smiled, "You're really smart."

Keara laughed, "I'm just speaking from experience. You'll find that you learn a lot from wars and that knowledge is not just in category of battle. You learn about yourself, friendship, honor, life, death and many more things that belong to different categories. It's truly amazing what you can learn even from the most dreadful of things."

"If only all firebenders were like you," Aang mused.

"What do you mean?"

"Well," Aang tuned his gaze back forward, "You just don't seem as aggressive as the firebenders here. It was because of them the war started."

"I can't say I'm not aggressive because I know I am," Keara told him, "But I will admit that I am different from the fire users back in my world and from what I've seen from the fire users here they are little different when it comes to their attitude. Then again I've only met two here."

"Why do you say fire users and not firebenders?" Aang asked curiously

Keara shrugged, "In my world we call ourselves fire users, or fire warriors. This term of 'firebender' is new to me, but I suppose I'll pick up on it quickly enough."

"Why are you in this world?" Aang asked the question that had been brewing on his mind since he had heard of her being from another world.

"Um, that's a bit of a touchy subject at the moment," she said softly before patting Drake's side, "Right Drake?" The dragon gave a low roar in response.

"Oh, sorry."

"No need to apologize," Keara said with a small laugh, "I don't really mind since I have a choice on whether I want to answer your questions or not." She once again patted the dragon's side, "Hey Drake slow down a bit so Aang's friends can catch up, I'm sure they're worried about him."

Drake slowed down just enough for the flying bison to come up beside him. "You alright Aang?" Katara asked.

"Ya," Aang said with a laugh, "Riding a dragon is loads of fun!"

Keara laughed lightly, "It can be indeed." She looked over to the Avatars friends and sighed, "We should be getting you back on your way Aang."

The Avatar looked back to her, "I am going the right way. We were heading to the North Pole so that I can learn waterbending from a master before Zuko forced us to land with his attacks."

"Ah, that's why you were on his ship," Keara mused, "I was wondering why you would have been there since it seemed you were enemies." She shrugged, "Now let's get you back on board your bison… Aang what's the girls name?"

"Katara, and Appa is the bison's name."

Keara said a quick thank you and turned her attention to the bison's passengers, "Katara get Appa under Drake so Aang can just jump down to you."

For a moment Katara was confused but quickly moved to do as she had been asked. In moments Appa was flying under Drake, slightly to the side of him to allow the saddle to be seen from where Aang and Keara sat.

"Ready?"

The boy looked to her, "Why don't you come with us?"

Keara was taken by surprise, "You want me to come with you?"

"Ya," Aang smiled, "You're not like the other firebender's and besides you don't have a specific place to go to since you're from another world."

With a smile Keara spoke, "Thank you Aang, I greatly appreciate it." She patted Drake's side once again, "You think Drake could come with us? Not in dragon form obviously since he'd attract far too much attention."

"He has another form?" Aang asked in pure confusion.

"Indeed," Keara chuckled, "It's a rare trait among his kind, but he figured it out so he could be around me when I was little."

"That's so cool!" Aang cried in awe and glee.

With another smile Keara nodded, "It is." She looked down to the bison below, "You'd better get going before they think I'm being an evil fire user."

Aang nodded and swung his leg over so both of them were on the same side, "They'll see that you're not like the other firebender's, just as I have." With that he slid off Drake's back and in seconds landed soundly on the back of his flying friend.

"Ready Drake?" Keara questioned once she saw that Aang was safe. When the dragon gave a soft roar she slid of his back and landed on Appa. Drake turned human and landed ever gracefully on his feet.

"He's human!" Sokka yelled in surprise.

"No," was Keara's simple answer.

Drake smirked, "I'm very much a dragon, though I can appear as one of your kind at will."

Sokka moved as far away from him as possible without falling out of the saddle. Katara too showed great amounts of shock and had taken several steps back, but upon seeing that Aang held no fear of him she let herself relax.

"Guys," Aang began, "This is Keara and Drake," he motioned to each one as he said their name. "They'll be traveling with us."

"Are you crazy! She's a firebender!" Sokka yelled.

"But she's not like any fire bender we've met Sokka," Aang said calmly, "From what I can tell she's really nice and so is Drake."

"From what you can tell," Sokka cried, echoing his friend.

Keara held up her hands, "I promise no harm and I can say the same thing for Drake, however if you wish me to leave I shall."

Katara took a few cautious steps towards her, "I don't think you need to." She looked to Aang, "If he trusts you and you're a firebender than that has to mean something since we've never gotten along with them."

"Precisely the reason she should leave!" Sokka yelled.

"Sokka!" Katara yelled back, "Stop being so pig headed! She allowed us to get away from Zuko unharmed."

"Please don't fight on my behalf Katara," Keara said in a slightly nervous tone, "Truly it's alright. I've been yelled at my entire life for not being as hardened in my appearance and attitude as I should for a warrior, even if I have proved my worth many times over."

"See she admits to being a warrior!" Sokka cried as he pointed to her.

"Yes," Drake said calmly, "But not a warrior from this world." This seemed to shut the screaming teen up as it was obvious he had forgotten that important fact.

"Thanks Drake," Keara whispered. "Now- shoot I don't your name, oh well. I am a warrior and a very good one at that, but I am most likely not the same as the fire users of your world. Yes I can use fire to my advantage, but my personality is what makes me different. I don't know how I can prove to you that I'm different-" she stopped for a moment and looked to Aang, "Wait I do. Aang you said you needed to learn firebending or whatever it is you call it. I'm sure the principles I use are same as the fire users here, so I can be you mentor."

Aang's face lit up, "Would you!"

Keara nodded with smile, "Of course, it would be my pleasure."

* * *

So Zuko now want to capture Keara and she's going to teach Aang firebending. How long will it take Zuko to re-find them?

Find out in the next chapter!

Please review

Thanks


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own ATLA

Thanks for reviewing:

**EastCoastie1500 **– Thank you. Lol. Drake is just one of those names a lot of people seem to know, but it is a humorous coincidence.

**EyeoftheTigerKissoftheDragon**– Thank you! I'm glad you are enjoying it as much as you are. But I do hope you find other stories that you find just as good. I know it's a bit of a challenge sometimes, depending on what your looking for.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"Ow!" Aang cried for the tenth time in less than a half hour.

"Keep your head up!" Keara yelled in an agitation that revealed she had said the same thing far too many times in a short time span.

Keara and Drake had been traveling with the group for nearly a week. Sokka's mood had had lightened greatly as he came to see what Aang had in the other worldly girl, but was still weary of the humanized dragon.

"Sorry," Aang muttered as he rubbed his sore head.

With a sigh Keara brushed the comment off, "It's alright." She back way from the boy and looked him up and down for a moment, "I think that's enough for today, I've probably given you a migraine."

"Na" Aang answered, "Just a headache."

"That's good I suppose," Keara said half heartedly. "But Aang it's crucial you learn to keep that head of your up. If you are to save the world you will need to fight at least one very difficult opponent and he or she will not be lenient towards you in the least as you will be their biggest obstacle. Putting your head down will give your opponent the upper hand, even if it's for a fraction of a second since a fatal blow can be dealt within that time. Do you understand?"

Aang nodded, "I'm going to get it, I have to."

"Good," Keara smiled, "But come, too much training in one day is not good for anyone."

Drake pulled his friend to the side gently as she began walking to the others with the intent to sit and relax. "Keara I hope you know what you are doing. The boy might be capable of many things but the training which you underwent might very well be too much for him to handle, especially since you are going at a rate far greater than your own training was."

"I know," Keara said with sigh, "But it has to be done. He has less than a year to learn three elements, where as I have been training with fire my entire life. That is one element Drake, not three. I have to teach him quickly and that means the training has to be difficult while not overdoing it."

"I am well aware of these facts," Drake pointed out, "But what I am getting at is that you have not yet begun to teach him fire. You have been teaching him movements for a week and have been pummeling him in the process. You'll beat the kid to death before you get to the elemental part at this rate."

Keara squeezed the bridge of her nose, "I know, I know." She took her hand away, "I'm trying to teach him the basic and the moderate skills at the same time, but the problem is he doesn't keep his head up. That's the problem I can see with Katara. When she waterbends she keeps her head down to see what she's doing and has unintentionally taught that same bad habit to Aang. It's far to dangerous to let him continue the way he is, he will get himself killed if he doesn't stop it."

"Keara, teach the boy some basic fire skills and he will learn that keeping his head up is wise lest he wants to burn his nose off," Drake told her with a slightly stern voice. "You don't have the time to stray from the element. Do the two things at once and he will learn it, be it the hard way or not. You learned to keep your head up only after you caught your hair on fire, which might not have been your masters intent but it did what he wanted. Now it's time for you to do the same thing."

The teen nodded, "I understand. I just wanted to evade getting him burnt. I'd rather give him migraines than burns as they could stop him from training for weeks."

"Yes, but now is not the time such ideals. Get off the body movement since he has that, except for his head being down, and get to the fire. If you need to teach him new movements do it as you teach it with fire, don't dawdle on what your master had. As you have pointed out he had years to teach you, you have but a few weeks since he needs to learn other elements."

Keara sighed once more and looked to the young Avatar as he laughed at something Sokka had said. He seemed so at peace despite the fact that he had so much strife ahead of him. "I'll do what I can without breaking his spirit."

Drake nodded, "That is what's needed." He to looked to Aang, "It would be a shame to turn him into something so many fire users are; arrogant, power hungry fools."

"Indeed it would be," her tone was somewhat saddened and Drake did not let it go unnoticed.

"Keara you are nothing like your kin."

The teen looked to her friend with saddened eyes, "So I like to believe."

vvvv

Prince Zuko paced in his chambers impatiently. The candles in the room seemed to react to his attitude as their flame traveled in his direction and flickered as if angry. The room itself held the aura of its occupant's feelings, creating a rather unpleasant illusion.

It had been a week since he had last heard news of the Avatar, or seen the mysterious girl from another world whom had stole him away. The mere thought of her enraged him. He had been so close to achieving his goal but at the last moment it had been snatched away from him as if it had just been there to tease him horribly.

'With the speed that dragon has they could be leagues away from here by now,' his mind growled.

A soft knock on the door disrupted any further thoughts that had been surfacing. "What is it?" he growled.

The door opened to reveal his uncle as the culprit of his distraction. "Prince Zuko you should not be so sour."

"I need to catch the Avatar."

"Which is why I came," Iroh said with a smile, "We have located him and Keara."

Zuko's irritable attitude turned almost to glee, except his face only revealed a smirk to prove it. "Finally. This time I will catch the Avatar and bring him before my father."

vvvv

"Ah!" Aang clasped his hands over his burnt nose as he hopped around. "It burns! It burns!"

Keara rolled her eyes, "It's fire." She walked up to the Avatar and forced him to stop his antics. "Let me see."

Aang complied and lowered his hands. "How bad is it?"

After a moment inspection she nodded to herself and stood upright, "Just fine. Looks like you got it a bit too warm, but not enough to burn it."

Aang gave out a sigh of relief but Keara was not done with the matter just yet. "Do you now understand one of the reasons why I said to keep your head up?"

He nodded his head, "Ya. I'm definitely not doing that again."

"Good," Keara said with a smile, "Now let's try this again without the attempt to burn your nose off."

"Right," Aang readied himself for the basic fire move once more. He took a deep breath and exhaled to calm himself and ready his energy.

"When you are relaxed do as I have told you to," Keara told him calmly.

After another intake of breath Aang lunged on his right leg and sent his right fist out sharply. A burst of flame erupted and traveled for several feet before dissipating into the air.

"Good, but you still don't have full control of it," Keara told him as he came to strand properly. "You are forcing the flame out instead of letting it just flow naturally off of your hand." She demonstrated what she meant before she spoke again. "Now try again and this time let it flow."

Once again Aang readied himself before lunging. This time however the fire that was emitted seemed natural even if the source it had come from was not of a flammable substance. "I did it!" He cried and jumped in the air.

"Very good," Keara said with a smile. "But we are hardly done for today." This did not seem to downcast the Avatar, instead he awaited his next challenge. "Next you'll learn to emit fire from you feet. Now watch as I'll show this to you only once."

Keara bent her legs slightly, "Bending your legs gives you better balance and will lead to greater power being dealt within the attack," she explained. Her next move was a roundhouse kick that had a trail of flame following behind it like a comet with a tail that went out several feet from her body in a spiral fashion.

"Cool!" Aang exclaimed.

"It can be used for closer combat," Keara told him, "And it does come in handy, you just have to know when to use it."

"Is that even a basic move?" Katara asked from where she sat watching with interest.

"No," Keara said with a shake of her head, "It's somewhere between a moderate level and an advanced level as it require much more concentration that the move before did, but I believe Aang is quite capable of handling it at this time."

Aang readied himself once again and did a roundhouse kick, only to loose his balance completely and fall to the ground. Though he had created flame with the movement its flow was disrupted due to its sources ungraceful fall.

"If you hadn't of lost your balance that would have been perfect," Keara told him as she helped him up. "Do you know why you lost your footing?"

"I kicked forward to hard."

"Correct. You need power behind the move, but too much power destroys the attack because it does not flow as it should; naturally."

"Can I try again?"

"Of course," Keara said with a smile.

The second attempt proved well as he got the flame to flow naturally from his foot like the tail of a comet. The next move he got on his first try as it was much easier; a simple kick up.

"Very good," Keara said with a light applause. "Now all I want you to do is kick your leg out, but as you kick twist your hips so that you become almost completely stream line."

Aang did as he was told without a demonstration and had only failed the first time because he had forgotten to put energy into the attack. The second attempt proved him capable of it with almost perfect style.

"You catch on quickly Aang, I'm impressed."

The boy gave a big smile, "You're a really good teacher."

"Na, for you this is second nature, you just needed to be reminded of it," Keara said with a shrug.

"You taught me to keep my head up," Aang told her, "That helped a lot."

Keara smiled, "Always does."

At that moment a cry from the river just beyond the dense line of trees was heard. Katara was fast to her feet, "Sokka?"

The boy came running into view not a moment later screaming, "Firebenders!"

"Wonderful," Keara muttered, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "You guys get on Appa and get out of here now. Drake, go with them and make sure they stay safe."

"With all do respect Keara, my duty is to protect you, not them," Drake said calmly.

"We are not at home Drake, that old standard doesn't matter."

"But it does to me," he said as he came to stand at her side.

Aang stood where he had been, "Why should we leave? We can help."

"You have to stay unharmed to continue your training," Keara reminded him, "We are on limited time remember. Now go."

There was no time for further arguments as the firebender's came through the trees, Zuko leading them on his large rhinoceros like beast. Upon seeing them the prince jumped off his ride.

"Ah, it's that boy again," Keara said more to herself than anyone.

"I've finally found you Avatar," Zuko said with a smirk, "This time you are mine." With a quick and decisive lung he threw out his fist, causing a funnel of flame to fly in Aang direction.

Without so much as a word Drake intercepted the attack before it came within several feet of the young Avatar, stopping it effortlessly with the sharp whip of one arm. Everyone except Keara was amazed at his speed and ease at blocking the attack that would have undoubtedly caused harm to Aang.

Taking full advantage of the distraction Keara pulled off an advanced maneuver that would baffle all that did not know her. With a step forward she used the momentum of the step to do a full spin and, upon having done three-fourths of a circle, let her arm nearest the firebender's fly out, palm up. From her open hand flew a small ball of fire that split in two upon clearing her hand at an angle just big enough go to the very edge of the circle like shape the firebender's were in. The two flames hit the ground and erupted both outward and towards the sky, bending around the group only stopping when it had re-met its other half, forming a domed cage of fire when it was finished.

"Wow!" Sokka cried, "How'd she do that!"

Sokka wasn't the only one amazed by the technique, everyone was. Even Zuko had to admit, to himself, that he had never before seen such a trick.

Keara turned to her friends, "Let's get out of here before they figure a way out."

"Right," Sokka said hastily as she jumped up on Appa after Aang. Katara was next to jump on, but only after a quick glance at the other female, followed by an ever calm Drake, whose arms were crossed over his chest.

Keara lingered for a brief moment to watch the firebenders as they came to their senses and tried to get out of their fiery cell. She shook her head at their methods, "You're thinking far too hard kids," she said playfully before joining her friends upon the giant bison.

"Appa, yip yip," Aang commanded as he gave a light slap of the reigns.

Once they were safely in the air Katara spoke the question on her brothers mind, "What did you tell them that for?"

The other worldly teen shrugged, "I suppose you could think of the cell as a challenge I invoked upon them and, like any challenge, there is usually at least one clue given. My words were a clue."

"Ya, but that'd get them on our tails quicker," Sokka said in agitation.

"Perhaps," Keara said calmly, "But I can easily lock them in an even stronger cell." Sokka was at a loss to come up with a counter statement and so he crossed his arms and leaned against the side of the saddle with a deep frown.

"Can you teach me that trick?" Aang asked as he crawled back to the saddle.

"It's a bit too far of a reach for you at this point in time," Keara told him, "But at the rate you're learning the fire skills you'll get to the needed point in no time."

Aang grinned happily, "I can't wait!"

"You do know that it's called firebending, not fire skills, right?" Sokka asked.

"Same difference," Keara responded with a shrug, "I just use different terminology, but I'll pick it up eventually."

A sudden scurrying up her back alerted her to the presence of yet another of Aang's animal friends; a lemur by the name of Momo. Without looking she pet the animal on the head when he had come to rest on her left shoulders as if he were a parrot.

Katara looked back in the direction from which they had just come, "I wonder how long it'll take them to get out."

"I'd say they're out by now," Drake said as he took gazed in the same direction. "That boy is not to be underestimated when he's in a rush. That much I can reason without further study of his personality."

"You say that like he's a book or something," Sokka pointed out.

"You humans are just like books," Drake said calmly without turning his gaze from where it was being held.

Sokka made a face but could utter nothing as Keara gave a soft laugh and spoke, "We are indeed like that of an open book." She looked to Aang and gave him a kind smile, "You just need to know the language to understand each one."

* * *

I love that holding cell move! Lol. It is my own creation… I've missed two or three episodes of the anime so I don't know what happened as far as fire bending goes. But anyways, how does Zuko manage to get out of the cell? 

Please review

Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own ATLA

Sorry for the delay. I was on vacation

Thanks for reviewing:

**EyeoftheTigerKissoftheDragon**– Thank you and sorry again for the delay.

**EastCoastie1500 **– Lol. It is like an oxymoron isn't it. I honestly didn't think of that when I had made the move, but I guess it adds to how cool it is, or it does in my mind.

**Angel of Music** – Lol. Glad you're liking it thus far.

* * *

Chapter 5

Zuko stood next to the railing, gaze cast out at sea, as the ship sailed quickly in the direction the Avatar had made off in. For two days they had been following, but they had yet to catch a good glimpse of them and it was entirely the other worldly girls fault.

The mere thought of her boiled his blood. Twice she had gotten the Avatar away from him, twice she had delayed him in meeting his goal and twice she had humiliated him with the ease in which she had done everything. Anger quickly became rage and the exiled prince clenched his fists so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"Calm yourself prince Zuko," the calm voice of Iroh sounded from behind the boy. "If you do not hold patience how do you expect to accomplish anything?"

"Uncle how can I be calm at a time like this!"

"Simply," Iroh answered, "Don't get worked up over past events, instead plan future ones."

Zuko loosed his fists, "That girl is powerful, how are we to get past her and capture the Avatar?"

"She is bound to have a weakness prince Zuko, it is only a matter of finding and exploiting it."

"But what is it?" Zuko asked more to himself than his uncle. "She uses advanced techniques I've never seen before," he growled, "That stupid cell held us back for half an hour and all that was required was a weak excuse of a fire attack to break it."

Iroh chuckled, "I have heard of it in my younger days, it is very effective. The purpose is as you know, to hold an opponent back, but most take hours to find a means of releasment. I am impressed that you figured it out so quickly."

Zuko shook his head with an agitated sigh, "She had practically told us before she left by saying 'you're thinking too hard.' Yet I didn't catch it quickly enough." With the last part his fists clenched once more.

"Most would not prince Zuko," Iroh told him calmly as he gazed out to sea. "That is why the technique is valuable in times of war. Many think they can break the cell with powerful attack when in truth they are perhaps strengthening it. One needs to think minutely with such things, but people become hot-headed in battle and do not think in the proper ways."

"Why is it no longer used then if it's so handy in battle?" Zuko questioned, his fists once again loosened.

"People have become too interested in causing damage than taking hostages."

Zuko nodded, "You need to teach me the technique so I can catch the Avatar."

"You are forgetting something of great importance prince Zuko, Keara knows of the technique. So it is a given that she can get herself, or anyone else, out of it with great haste."

The banished prince growled and slammed his fist onto the banister, "Curse that girl!"

vvvv

The growling of Sokka's stomach alerted the band of friend that it was around noon and they had no food left from the morning meal. The hungry teen held his stomach, "We have got to get something to eat," he groaned.

"I have to agree with Sokka this time," Katara said with a face as her stomach too growled, "I'm even hungry."

Aang looked back from his steering position, "There's a town not far away, we can stop there."

"How long?" Sokka whined.

"Not too long," Aang said after a moments thought.

Katara sighed and leaned against the side of the saddle. She looked over to Keara, whose gaze was lost out on the horizon with a sense of longing held deep within her eyes, Drake sitting peacefully next to her with his eyes closed. "Thinking about your home huh?"

Keara nodded, not startled in the least by the sudden question. Drake opened his eyes and looked to his long time friend with a slight frown, "Don't dwell where we are not wanted Keara, it will only lead to further heart break."

"I know," Keara said softly as she took her gaze from the vastness of the sea, "But I cannot forget the place of my birth so easily."

"Care to talk about your home?" Katara asked with interest, "I mean, if you don't want to I understand." Even Sokka sat up with interest and Aang looked back.

With a light laugh Keara nodded, "I don't mind and, who knows, maybe talking about it will help me let it go." She smiled to Drake who gave her a look somewhere between a smile and sternness, a look that always seemed to humor the girl. "Why don't I tell of the time when we first met Drake."

The humanized dragon held back his laughter and shook his head. Keara's smiled widened slightly, "We met back when I was …"

vvvv

A six year old girl with brown hair done back in a neat ponytail walked down one of the many corridors in a stone palace, her hand resting in her mother's gentle grasp. Her long sleeve rich red dress swayed with each step she took, her light blue eyes shone with childish glee.

The halls were decorated with elegant tapestries and a suit of freshly polished armor after each door. The floor held splotches of moister, revealing that it had been washed but an hour before hand. Light entered through the windows and danced on the ground, making the occasional rainbow that made the girl giggle and point it out to her mother, who would smile down at her kindly.

"What's daddy got for me?" the child asked with a smile.

"I'm not quite sure Keara darling," the woman admitted. Her sapphire eyes kept their gaze down the corridor, her rich brown hair flowing freely behind her. "We'll just have to wait and see."

The child nodded and remained quiet until they came to a pair of darkly polished wooden doors. The two guards on either side gave a respectful bow before they opened the door wide for them.

The room beyond was large in both size and height with. Its ceiling painted with the kings of the past, lush red carpet, suits of armor rested around the walls and, as Keara knew all to well, highly trained guards were hidden in the shadowy alcoves. Against the wall the door they had just come through was adjacent to were two elegantly carved throne, one of them holding an occupant.

Coming in front of him the two females gave polite curtsies. "My lord, you called?" the mother asked.

"Yes," the king said as he stood, "Come this way." He quietly led them through a door on the other end of the throne room.

They walked in silence for sometime before they reached their destination; the courtyard. Since it was late spring all the flowers were in full bloom, giving off a pleasant smell to all that passed by, unless, of course, they despised nature.

A gasp escaped the woman as she laid eyes upon the reason they had been brought there. "You're highness," she said in a fearful voice, "This is in no mean meant for a child."

"Dragon!" Keara yelled in glee. She tried to get her hand out of her mothers grasp, but the woman refused to let her child go towards the beast, which was struggling greatly with the chains that held it down.

"She seems to like it," commented the king with little care.

"She is merely six years old my lord," the woman said worriedly, "That beast could tear strong men apart and I don't want to imagine what it could do to a small child."

The dragon was trying to rid itself on its bondages, but it was a vain attempt against the thick and heavy chains. Its growls struck fear in the hearts of all the guards and the child's mother, but Keara and the king felt no such emotion towards it. Its honey colored eyes shone with a ferocity that only one of his species could pull off.

"It's already showed parts of its capabilities," the woman said as he pointed out the scorched earth that stretch for several yards before the dragons stationary head.

Keara tugged wildly at her hand as he tried to pull it away, "Let go mamma, I wanna pet the dragon."

"It'll bite your hand off before you can pet it," her mother said sharply, but the tone did not seem to affect the child.

"Let go," she whined. Suddenly her hand became free after a rather sharp tug that sent her stumbling backwards, towards the dragon.

"Keara!" her mother cried and tried to grab her daughter, but she quickly sped off to the captive dragon, a place her mother was too freighted to follow.

Being a child Keara did not think of the danger of her actions, nor the danger held by standing directly in front of the beast. "Hi mister dragon," she said gleefully.

The dragon seemed bemused at the child's lack of fear towards him, much less her willingness to stand before him and speak so kindly. He felt he had to change her on look, after all he was a dragon, a creature meant to be feared by humans. With a sharp intake of breath he release two jets of flame, one from each nostril, that went on either side of the child, but did not hit her.

"You're mad aren't you," Keara said with childish pout.

The dragon was deeply confused by this as the girl held no trace of fear, instead she held a sense of sympathy. Thinking that a second action would give him the response he desire he shot flame on either side of her small body once again, but the reaction was no different.

"Keara get back here now," her mother cried in a panic.

The child did not seem to hear her mother's words and began to walk closer to the dragon. As she did so the beast's exhales shifted her dress and hair about as if she were on a hill during a windy day. When she was within reaching distance she smiled happily and patted the dragon's snout.

A low growl was let out by the dragon, one that would have been a roar had his mouth not been clamped shut. "Silly dragon, don't growl. I'm not going to hurt you." She kissed his snout softly, as if to prove her words.

All struggling and growling stopped and if the on lookers hadn't known better they would have thought the dragon had been petrified. In truth it had been deeply taken aback by the child's display of affection, especially after he had surrounded her with flame not once, but twice less than five minutes ago.

When sense returned to it the dragon struggled violently against the chains, even more so than he had before. Perhaps the action now was more desperate became he wanted to get away from the child that confused him so, or perhaps he knew what was about to be said.

"She's had her enjoyment," the king said, "Now kill the beast."

Keara looked to him with teary eyes, "No killing mister dragon! He's my friend!"

"You haven't known him ten minutes, so don't cut that with me child," the king said sharply.

With a trembling lip the child turned to one end of the chain holding the creatures head down and tugged on it with all her might, "I won't them hurt you!" The guards were coming ever closer to creature, causing her to become even more desperate.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she tried to pull hard on the chain. "I don't want you to die," she cried. Suddenly a whirl of fire encircled her, but it had not originated from the dragon. With haste the fire crashed into the chains with such intensity and heat that it broke a clasp, causing the entire chain to break as the dragon tugged harshly on it.

"She used an advance technique," her mother gasped.

Now that the dragon had its head free it was a simple task to get the rest of it body out as it wriggled back and forth violently. Keara smiled at him, "Be free mister dragon."

By now the guards were on top of the dragon and they tried to end its life before it got completely free. The attempt however failed as the beast rid itself of the chains. In anger the guards shot fire at him, a horrible mistake on their part as the dragon moved, making the fire go directly towards the terrified child.

Keara screamed and put her hands over her head as she squeezed her eyes shut, but any pain she thought she would have felt never came. She frightenedly opened her eyes and saw nothing but the deep red color of scales in all directions. Looking up she saw the angry face of the dragon looking in the direction the guards had been.

"You saved me," Keara said softly.

The dragon looked down at her and his eyes seemed to soften at the sight of her. Not a moment later did he uncurl from around her and stand by her side, gaze back at the guards with her old ferocity.

"Keara!" her mother cried and ran to her, not caring about the dragon any longer. She wrapped her daughter in a tight hug, "Thank the gods, you're alright."

"Mister dragon saved me mamma," Keara said when she was able to look her mother in the eyes. "Don't let them hurt him mamma, don't let them."

"Keara he's very dangerous."

"But he saved me," she whined as tears trailed down her cheeks once more. "Mean things don't save people."

"Baby, he can't stay," her mother told her.

"Then let him go home," she cried.

The dragon looked her, surprise evident in his eyes. Keara got her mother to put her down and she quickly ran to the dragon so many feared, wrapping her arms around his neck when he had lowered his head to her.

The king did not seem at all pleased, "This has gotten out of hand. Get off that thing Keara or there will be severe consequences. That thing is not human and so it cannot remain here."

"No!" Keara cried and tightened her grasp. She let go only when the one she was holding wriggled free, but before it move again she had it's snout in her arms. Seeing the child's tears stopped it from trying to get away.

"I want him to live," she sobbed.

"He is not human!" The king roared.

"I don't care," she cried, tears dripping onto the dragons' snout.

The dragon breathed softly as if to try and comfort the child. For whatever reason it felt affection toward the girl, perhaps it was because she was risking her own safety to protect him, or perhaps it was because she shed tears for him. What ever it was it held the same principle; she treated him much differently than any human ever had before.

Suddenly a light began to emit from the creature itself, causing everyone to shield their eyes, even Keara was forced to let go due to the brightness. After several moment the light began to fade away and everyone could once again see normally, but what they saw was not what they had not been expected.

In the place the dragon had once been now stood a boy looking to be around twenty with red hair and honey colored eyes. He seemed deeply perplexed as he looked down at his hands, turning them back and forth several times as if wondering if they were real or an illusion of some sort.

Keara looked at him in wonder, all tears now gone from her eyes, "Mister dragon?"

The boy put his hands down looked at her calmly before stooping down and giving a smile. Tears came back to the child's eyes as a smile appeared. Without a word wrapped her arms around her neck.

"What just happened?" One of the guards asked in complete confusion.

Keara's mother smiled, "He turned into a human."

"A dragon cannot do such a thing," the king said sternly.

"I believe he just did my lord," she responded softly. "For whatever reason, he is now human, so you cannot bring harm to him, lest you go back on your words."

The king growled and watched as the boy-once-dragon stood with the child safely in his arms. "You," he said viciously as he the pointed to the boy, "May fool the others, but you do not fool me." He glared at the boy before he continued, "You will protect that girl with your life to prove that you are worthy of such a form. Should any harm come of her," he smirked, "You will be executed."

The boy-once-dragon was not fazed by the words, but it was clear that he understood them. The girl in his arms looked from the king to him, a small smile appearing when their eyes locked. "Mister dragon, what's your name?"

With a light laugh at the name she kept calling him he answered with, "You can call me Drake, as my true name would be too hard for you to pronounce."

Keara smiled widened, "My name's Keara." She hugged him, "I'm glad you can stay and be my friend."

Drake was unsure of what to do for a moment, but soon figured something out. He kept her supported with one arm and with the other he stroked her hair, "Me too."

vvvv

The three that had listened had smiled plastered on their faces. "That's so cute," Katara said.

"Wow, you guys go way back," Aang said, "Sorta like Appa and me."

"Ya," Keara looked to her dragon friend, "Sort of like that."

"I never would have thought of a dragon having compassion," Sokka mused.

"We have many things humans tend to neglect," Drake said coolly, "But after being around your kind for so long I understand why."

Aang looked back in the direction they were traveling in before laughing, "There the village. We'll have food soon Sokka."

Sokka grabbed his stomach and leaned over as it grumbled, "Why'd you have to remind me?" he groaned.

* * *

Aww. That was a cute recollection, but geez, her dad's a huge jerk… but I hope you knew that already. Lol

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